Turkey is no less enthralling than any other country in the world in terms of the frequency and nature of abduction cases, even though close encounter stories get most mainstream attention in the Western World.
Contrary to the “relatively liberal ways” they have been reported in the West, reports of UFO abduction phenomenon have been made from around the country through “more secure channels” due to the conservative social fabric that discourages people from sharing their outer-worldly experiences.
Through a comparative analysis of nearly 800 cases reported to us (Sirius UFO Space Sciences Research Center), physical evidence and corroborative testimony, we can easily conclude that almost every common characteristics, such as feeling of paralysis, the perception of having been transported immaterially (frequently through a beam of light), missing time, unusual marks, bright and oval-shaped examination/operation rooms, examination tables, unconventional medical procedures, removal and/or insertion of reproductive material, implants, balls of light, short and tall greys (Greys are most popularly associated with abduction reports.), Nordics and reptilians (in rare cases) etc., seen in abduction cases around the planet are perfectly present in a plenty of stories with enough clarity to be labeled and archived as “possible close encounter case”. At this point, I need to emphasize that –in contrast to common recognition- majority of abductees in Turkey report vivid, detailed accounts without hypnosis.
It would be pretty fair to say that some of such encounters are described as terrifying, while many describe them as transformative and benevolent, and quite a number of people relates personal stories which contain both emotions and ensuing ambivalence.
Most Turkish citizens who report their experiences with extraterrestrial beings and crafts display average to above average intelligence, are not 'delusional' and are perfectly aware of the social and personal consequences of their experiences on their families, friends and career opportunities. While their involvement with spiritual communities and/or personal interests in metaphysical matters in general vary from none to high, we have observed striking degree of consistency as a common element in most cases.
Skeptics in Turkey –as in any other part of the world- tend to doubt that the phenomenon occurs literally as reported, and a wide variety of “far-fetched” alternate explanations have been constantly proposed.
Naturally, being pulled up into space ships by tractor beams or light sources is not something that happens every day—nor is it something that is easily explainable within our existing knowledge of physics. Similarly, being subjected to imaginative medical procedures requires a tendency to accept unusual and non-mainstream ideas.
But not-so-surprisingly little consideration has been given to the concept that these entities might be coming from outer space. Though, in general, scientific and cultural pre-judgements seem to be major obstacles to more widespread study and/or reporting of the phenomenon, we do have an additional league of skeptics who identify themselves as belonging to religious communities. They tend to characterize abduction cases by religious terminology and go to any lengths to make an unfounded connection between extraterrestrial beings and intruding jinn in order to have the phenomenon fit in the commonly accepted boundaries of Islam.
Cultural Influences
All of this dominant religious worldview makes us raise a few questions:
Does cultural differences play any role in perception of these reported incidents? In another words, is the perception of the phenomenon cultural-specific?
Does the theory which suggests that the alien abduction experience is remarkably similar to quasi-religious folk tales of demon abduction common throughout history have an oppressive effect on abductees/contactees and prevent them from coming forward?
Although in North America and Europe, "aliens" of extraterrestrial origin are the ones most commonly blamed in these incidents, in other parts of the world, especially in the Middle East, the beings involved are as often perceived to be demonic or spiritual in origin, thus leading public opinion to the conclusion that abduction experiences are closely related to alleged energy beings called jinn. In rural regions, this may eventually result in abductees being forcefully taken to hodjas (local religious figure or preacher in Islam) to be treated by performing some sort exorcism that is widely called as “jinn-expulsion”.
We also had several well-educated abductees negatively influenced by jinn stories, who were hopelessly trying to interpret their experiences as jinn manifestations in parallel with widespread cultural tendencies.
There's also many people in the Western world who identify themselves mostly as Catholics who believe that aliens may be some kind of demonic force or they're demons themselves. Though I don't agree that the UFO phenomenon has any connection to demons, I have noticed a growing worldwide trend within the UFO community.
I was raised in a liberal family, yet heard a lot of jinn stories from serious experiencers throughout my whole life. In a decade when parallel universes, infinite dimensions and multi-verse concept are widely discussed, it would be a hasty and unfair judgement to suggest that the jinn don’t exist at all. On the contrary, vast pool of data has been collected through spiritual practices proving the existence of a variety of non-physical entities on higher vibrational realms of Earth in a way that isn't normally perceptible to us. However, none of these unsophisticated jinn stories had any resemblance to staggeringly complex abduction cases with remarkable cosmic/spiritual/karmic implications.
Some of these entities can be deceptive and influential on our 3D plane of existence as our dualistic path of evolution permits, but, there is no credible evidence supporting the fact that they are behind –even at least some- of the ET encounter mystery and they have masqueraded as extraterrestrials.
From a commonly-held socio-cultural perspective prevailing in the East, the average visitation experience attributed to an alien entity is indiscriminable from average religious experience ascribed to God and prophets. As you go East, the local population is more likely to interpret abduction/contact cases as a deity phenomenon rather than visitors from outer space in order to protect their worldviews which is primarily based on their belief systems. As a matter of fact, the abduction narrative requires a certain climate of openness and trust. In rare exceptions, spiritually awakened residents in small towns feel forced to shut their mouth in fear of ridicule or intimidation, while a good number of experiencers are not enough sophisticated-minded to make sense of what exactly happened to them.
Abduction phenomenon has a lot to do with “awareness”. It is a worldwide phenomenon and it happens irrespective of whether it is reported or not. So, awareness (or lack of awareness) seem to be the key in explaining why these stories don’t get recognized or go unreported in certain parts of the world. The more awareness people have on the issue, the more similar accounts of abduction cases we receive.
Isolation from Society and Sense of Loneliness
This brings us to the question that why abduction cases look more popular and frequent in the United States.
Probably the answer is that the US is a country where the abduction phenomenon has been broadly popularized by a number of significant books written about the subject, and researchers like late Budd Hopkins and John Mack of Harvard University, and this have helped tremendously to bring awareness to the issue, as have support groups.
‘Abductee Support Group’ is a newly-introduced concept in Turkey, which Sirius UFO Space Sciences Research Center has initiated in early March 2017.
Moreover, considering the partly disturbing nature of much abduction narrative (or at least the invasion of the body), such elements of the stories require a more open-minded culture that is comfortable about such matters. Most conservative cultures are very private about the body and refrain from discussing things like "body probes" in public.
So, how could abductees/contactees deal with not being able to share their experiences with the people they love in a conservative social environment? Even their closest friends and families that would scoff at the very idea of things that they have been through, dismissing their experiences as jinn manifestation, some kind of mental illness or products of their wild imagination.
At the end of the day, secret keeping behavior and the covert “no talk” rule about alien encounters compels the abductee to live a false life, they end up living with multiple-personalities, forcing themselves to look “normal” in social/business environments and to be who really they are when they are alone. Their friends, families and co-workers know only a version of them they put on as a front to fit in, a mask to blend in with the crowd. The undeserved and even “cruel” label surrounding this subject is what keeps many people quiet. When they share their experiences, what they face is “being labeled as religious outcast or fool of the village” at the least. Unlike the lucky minority residing in metropolitan areas, few can afford professional counseling or hypnosis and even if they can, they usually avoid it because of the mainstream psychological and medical opinion of alien abductions.
Especially in rural areas in Turkey, there is an ever-widening intellectual/cognitive gap between youngsters and their parents. This is apparently linked with massive levels of internet usage in younger generations. Accordingly, new generations are more apt to interpret their abduction/contact experiences no matter how much these cases contradict commonly-accepted norms.
However, unresolved emotional, mental and physical trauma of alien abductions manifests itself in a myriad of ways. The most common is through dysfunctional families and relationships. Dominant social structure reinforces the precept that “aliens do not exist” or is only science fiction. The result of these isolating conditions forces the abductee to turn inward or act out in rebellion against parents, school, religion or social structure. The abductee who has been denied validation of their experience will have a tendency to not trust their own feelings, stay in denial and even act out in anger. Those who have turned anger inward will become depressed or even suicidal depending on the extent of trauma endured.
Osman G. (36), from a small county in Erzincan (a city in Eastern Turkey) relates his feelings in an e-mail message:
“I have had experiences since I was 4 years old and there is some kind of deep connection I have with ETs. I was taken aboard an alien craft multiple times and I am completely in peace with these experiences.
When I go outside at night and talk out loud to the stars, I see different types of moving lights and "shooting stars." I know my star friends can hear me, because they respond.
Throughout my life I have always felt out of place, alone and isolated. I have a gifted personality, I am able to absorb information very quickly and understand subjects with great depth. I have grown to be more and more spiritual as I have matured, and feel a great connection to the universe. I am a firm believer that humans are spiritual beings having a physical experience. I know that I have a "higher purpose" in life.”
Though I am quite intelligent, I have always seemingly tried to dumb myself down, because of my poor self-esteem. I’ve always felt I had to fit in the conservative society I had to live in…”
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Erhan Kolbaşı studied business management in Turkey and participated in human resources management graduate program in Cornell University before he started his career with the Turkish Foreign Ministry. Throughout his 25 years of diplomatic duty as administrative attache, vice consul and consul in different countries, he also dedicated himself to UFO studies, took classes with Exopolitics Institute, wrote articles and made presentations. After completing his diplomatic career, he returned to his country of origin and published his first book “Relations with Extraterrestrial Civilizations and the Birth of Cosmic Paradigm”. Kolbasi lectures regularly about exopolitics, appears on TV and radio programs, recently focusing more on abduction and contact cases in Turkey. He is also currently the Vice–Chairman of Sirius UFO Space Sciences Research Center, the leading UFO research organization of the country.